The government may issue IOC, BPCL and HPCL Rs 10,300 crore worth of oil bonds this week to compensate these companies for the losses they have incurred on fuel sales in last fiscal.

The government may issue IOC, BPCL and HPCL Rs 10,300 crore worth of oil bonds this week to compensate these companies for the losses they have incurred on fuel sales in last fiscal.

The bonds, which will come over and above Rs 61,800 crore already issued to the three companies, would help them bridge the revenue loss they incurred on sale of petrol, diesel, LPG and kerosene in 2008-09, a Petroleum Ministry official said.

The three companies had lost Rs 1,03,292 crore on sale of the four fuels, of which Rs 32,000 crore has been chipped in by upstearm companies like ONGC.

"With the bond issue we hope the oil retailing companies will either break-even or make profits," he said.